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Character analysis

Papa Johansen

in Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Papa Johansen is the quiet, steady head of the Johansen family in Lois Lowry's Number the Stars, which takes place during the Nazi occupation of Denmark in 1943. While he has fewer scenes than Mama, his presence is vital in grounding the family's moral courage. A thoughtful and principled man, Papa chooses resistance over compliance, welcoming Ellen Rosen into his home without a second thought when the Nazis start rounding up Jews in Copenhagen. When a German soldier questions why there are three daughters instead of two, Papa calmly presents a baby photo of the fair-haired Lise and claims Ellen is his child — a lie told with unwavering composure that ultimately saves Ellen's life and showcases his ability for protective deception under intense pressure.

Papa's journey is one of quiet endurance. He has already faced the loss of his eldest daughter Lise, who was killed by the Nazis, yet he channels his grief into purposeful action instead of succumbing to despair. He trusts Peter Nielsen, Lise's former fiancé, as a Resistance operative and supports Mama's risky journey to Uncle Henrik's farm. Papa stays in Copenhagen during the climactic escape, reinforcing his role as a pillar on the home front rather than a field operative.

Key traits include a measured calm, dry wit, and an unshakeable sense of ethics. He demonstrates to Annemarie — and the reader — that bravery isn't about being free of fear but about choosing to act rightly in spite of it. His quiet heroism contributes significantly to the novel's emotional weight.

About this character

Form
Novel
Author
Lois Lowry
First published
1989

The person01–03

01·Who they are

Who is Papa Johansen?

Papa Johansen — given no first name in the novel, a detail that subtly universalises him — is the patriarch of a Copenhagen family navigating the Nazi occupation of Denmark in 1943. He works as an ordinary civilian, neither a soldier nor a celebrated hero, and Lois Lowry presents him precisely that way: a man of moderate means and extraordinary moral clarity. His defining characteristics are composure, dry humour, and an ethical seriousness that never tips into self-righteousness. He does not lecture his children about courage; he simply demonstrates it. Where Mama's bravery tends to be physical and visceral — she breaks her ankle on the dark path to Henrik's farm and limps on without complaint — Papa's heroism is cerebral and performative, requiring him to project absolute conviction while lying to armed men in the middle of the night.

02·Arc & motivation

What is Papa Johansen's arc and motivation?

Papa begins the novel as a quiet anchor, the steady presence behind closed curtains while Copenhagen grows more dangerous. His arc is one of constrained grief transformed into purposeful resistance. The death of his eldest daughter Lise at Nazi hands precedes the novel's action but saturates it; Papa has already absorbed the worst the occupation can deliver, and that knowledge frees him from paralysis. He does not resist because he is fearless — Lowry is careful to show the family's genuine terror — but because grief has clarified his priorities irrevocably. Protecting the Rosens is, for Papa, both a political act and a private reckoning with Lise's murder. He cannot retrieve his daughter, but he can refuse to let her killers take anyone else he loves.

03·Key moments

What are Papa Johansen's key moments?

The novel's most electrifying scene involving Papa occurs in Chapter 5, when German soldiers pound on the Johansens' door in the early hours demanding to see the family. When a soldier notices three girls rather than two and asks why, Papa retrieves the baby photograph of the fair-haired, blue-eyed Lise and presents it as evidence that Ellen is his natural daughter. His voice does not waver. He neither over-explains nor under-explains. The soldier is persuaded. What makes this moment so resonant is the instrument Papa uses: his dead daughter's image, a relic of irreplaceable grief, repurposed as a weapon of survival. The photograph carries two meanings simultaneously — mourning and resistance — and Papa holds both without flinching.

A quieter but equally telling moment comes when Papa agrees, without debate or visible hesitation, to Mama's plan to escort the Rosens to Henrik's farm. He stays behind in Copenhagen, accepting a supporting role that requires its own discipline. This restraint signals his understanding that effective resistance is collaborative and that ego has no place in it.

The cast04–05

04·Relationships

What are Papa Johansen's most important relationships?

Annemarie is Papa's most important audience. She watches him during the soldiers' interrogation and learns, wordlessly, that bravery can be calm and even dry-eyed. His steadiness becomes the template for her own solo act of courage in Chapter 17, when she carries the vital packet to Uncle Henrik's boat. Papa prepares her not through instruction but through example.

Mama and Papa function as a genuinely egalitarian partnership for a 1943 marriage. He does not override her judgment or diminish her plans; when she decides to make the dangerous journey, he trusts her completely. Their shared grief over Lise creates an unspoken bond that the narrative registers in glances and silences rather than dialogue.

Ellen Rosen is the immediate beneficiary of Papa's protective instincts. He claims her as his own child without theatrical emotion, treating her safety as simply what a decent person does — which is, of course, Lowry's larger argument about Danish resistance.

Peter Nielsen, Lise's former fiancé and a Resistance operative, earns Papa's complete trust. Papa defers to Peter's field knowledge, modelling the kind of ego-free collaboration that makes the network function.

05·Connected characters

How is Papa Johansen connected to the other characters?

Annemarie Johansen

Papa is Annemarie's father and her primary model of quiet courage. His calm during the soldiers' nighttime interrogation teaches her that bravery can be steady and undramatic, shaping her own act of heroism later in the novel.

Mama Johansen

Papa and Mama form a united, trusting partnership. He supports her decision to accompany the Rosens to Henrik's farm without question, and their shared grief over Lise binds them in a deep, unspoken solidarity.

Ellen Rosen

Papa shelters Ellen as if she were his own daughter, most dramatically when he convincingly claims her as his child to the German soldiers, directly saving her life with a fabricated photograph and unwavering nerve.

Lise Johansen

Lise's death at Nazi hands is Papa's defining wound. He keeps her memory alive — her baby photograph becomes the instrument that saves Ellen — and his grief quietly fuels his commitment to the Resistance.

Peter Nielsen

Papa trusts Peter completely as a Resistance courier and as the man who loved Lise. He defers to Peter's operational knowledge, reflecting his understanding that effective resistance requires collaboration and trust.

Uncle Henrik

Papa and Henrik are brothers whose shared values make Henrik's farm the logical refuge for the Rosens. Papa coordinates the family's movement toward Henrik, relying on his brother's fishing boat and nerve for the escape.

Mr. Rosen

Papa's willingness to hide the Rosen family reflects his deep friendship with Mr. Rosen and his conviction that Danish identity demands protecting Jewish neighbors, regardless of personal risk.

Mrs. Rosen

Papa extends the same protective loyalty to Mrs. Rosen as to her husband, treating the Rosens' safety as a family obligation and a matter of conscience rather than heroics.

The German Soldier

The nighttime confrontation with the German soldier is Papa's defining scene. Facing an armed occupier, he lies coolly and successfully, demonstrating that moral authority can outmaneuver brute power.

Kirsti Johansen

Papa is gentle and protective toward the youngest Johansen, shielding Kirsti from the full terror of the occupation while allowing her childlike obliviousness to serve as an inadvertent cover for the family's activities.

Study06–07

06·Questions

Questions readers ask about Papa Johansen

How does Papa Johansen protect Ellen Rosen when the German soldiers come to the door?

Papa Johansen produces a baby photograph of his deceased daughter Lise and calmly claims Ellen is his natural child, convincing the armed soldier without wavering. The photograph is effective because fair-haired Lise resembles the blue-eyed image the soldier expects of a Danish child. By repurposing a relic of personal grief as an instrument of survival, Papa saves Ellen's life through composed and deliberate deception rather than confrontation.

What is Papa Johansen's relationship with Annemarie, and how does it shape her courage?

Papa is Annemarie's father and her most important model of quiet bravery. During the soldiers' nighttime interrogation in Chapter 5, Annemarie observes him lying convincingly to armed men without visible fear, learning that courage can be calm and undramatic. That lesson directly enables her own solo act of heroism in Chapter 17, when she carries the vital resistance packet to Uncle Henrik's boat — imitating the steadiness she first saw in her father.

How does Lise Johansen's death affect Papa's role in the Resistance?

Lise's murder at Nazi hands is Papa's defining wound, transforming his grief into purposeful action rather than despair. Having absorbed the worst the occupation can deliver, Papa channels his loss into protecting others — sheltering the Rosens, trusting Peter Nielsen as a Resistance operative, and supporting Mama's dangerous journey to Henrik's farm. Lowry uses Lise's memory, especially her photograph, to link Papa's private grief directly to political resistance.

Why does Papa Johansen stay in Copenhagen instead of going to Uncle Henrik's farm during the escape?

Papa stays behind to hold the home front, accepting a supporting role that requires its own discipline and self-restraint. Lowry frames this not as passivity but as a deliberate form of heroism — one that keeps the family's normal presence in Copenhagen intact and avoids drawing additional suspicion. His willingness to step back signifies that he places the mission's success above any personal need to be at the center of the action.

How does Papa Johansen's relationship with Mama work as a partnership?

Papa and Mama operate as a genuinely equal partnership, unusual for a 1943 marriage. When Mama decides to escort the Rosens to Henrik's farm — a physically dangerous night journey — Papa supports her without debate or hesitation, trusting her judgment entirely. Their shared, largely unspoken grief over Lise deepens this bond, and Lowry conveys their solidarity through glances and silences rather than explicit dialogue.

Is Papa Johansen a hero in Number the Stars, and what kind of heroism does he represent?

Papa is indeed a hero, but Lowry deliberately casts him as an unheroic-looking one — a quiet civilian with dry wit rather than a fighter or martyr. His bravery is cerebral and performative: he lies convincingly to armed soldiers, shelters a Jewish child, and trusts Resistance operatives, all without grandstanding. Through Papa, Lowry argues that genuine courage is measured not by freedom from fear but by choosing to act rightly in spite of it.

07·Essay angles

Use this in your essay

Tool · Essay angles

  • The ethics of deception: Papa lies convincingly to the German soldiers and the novel frames this as morally admirable. Explore how Lowry constructs a framework in which dishonesty becomes a form of integrity, and what this suggests about the relationship between law and justice under occupation.

  • Fatherhood as moral education: Examine how Papa's parenting style

    leading by example rather than by command — shapes Annemarie's development and ultimately enables her act of independent courage in Chapter 17.

  • Grief as fuel for resistance: Papa has suffered the greatest possible loss yet becomes more committed to protecting others, not less. Analyse how Lowry uses Lise's death and her photograph to connect personal grief to political action.

  • The hero who stays home: Papa does not travel to Henrik's farm or physically participate in the escape. Discuss how Lowry broadens the definition of heroism to include those who hold the home front, and what this implies about the distribution of courage in wartime communities.

  • Quiet masculinity and the occupation narrative: Unlike stereotypical wartime protagonists, Papa is neither a fighter nor a martyr. Consider how his measured, domestic form of resistance challenges conventional representations of male heroism in World War II literature.

Number the Stars

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